The invention relates generally to a medical device and particularly to an apparatus and methods associated with a range of image guided medical procedures.
Image guided surgery (IGS), also known as image guided intervention (IGI), enhances a physician's ability to locate instruments within anatomy during a medical procedure. IGS can include 2-dimensional (2-D), 3-dimensional (3-D), and 4-dimensional (4-D) applications. The fourth dimension of IGS can include multiple parameters either individually or together such as time, motion, electrical signals, pressure, airflow, blood flow, respiration, heartbeat, and other patient measured parameters.
Existing imaging modalities can capture the movement of dynamic anatomy. Such modalities include electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated or respiratory-gated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices, ECG-gated or respiratory-gated computer tomography (CT) devices, standard computed tomography (CT), 3D Fluoroscopic images (Angio-suites), and cinematography (CINE) fluoroscopy and ultrasound. Multiple image datasets can be acquired at different times, cycles of patient signals, or physical states of the patient. The dynamic imaging modalities can capture the movement of anatomy over a periodic cycle of that movement by sampling the anatomy at several instants during its characteristic movement and then creating a set of image frames or volumes.
A need exists for an apparatus that can be used with such imaging devices to capture pre-procedural or intra-procedural images of a targeted anatomical body and use those images intra-procedurally to help guide a physician to the correct location of the anatomical body during a medical procedure.